It beat the Eiffel Tower and more. Incredible achievement.
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum has been voted Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction at the prestigious World Travel Awards.
In doing so, it beat Buckingham Palace, the Eiffel Tower, the Sagrada Família, Portugal’s Ribeira do Porto, and Rome’s Colosseum for the accolade at Europe’s most prestigious global travel industry event.
Located at The CHQ Building in Dublin, the museum has only been open for three years.
Speaking about the award, the founder of EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, Neville Isdell, has said that: “It is truly an honour to receive an award of this magnitude; we are delighted to be named Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction for 2019. We have thoroughly enjoyed welcoming the tens of thousands of people who have visited us both from Ireland and overseas each year and look forward to welcoming many more.
“I have always believed that the story of Irish people around the world was worth telling, and so, I founded EPIC. When we opened in 2016, we had a vision to create a local museum that could connect globally. It’s very important that we honour the Irish diaspora abroad and recognise the vital contributions and monumental impact Irish people have made worldwide. It’s wonderful to be recognised for this award today, thank you to those that made this possible through hard work and dedication, and to those who voted for us.”
The museum is expected to welcome over 300,000 visitors this year and they’ll be able to learn about 1,500 years of Irish history.
In doing so, the various displays and interactive features at the museum tells the powerful story of 10 million Irish people who travelled abroad to start a new life. The museum takes visitors on a journey of emigration from Ireland, to the far corners of the globe including America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
Galleries in the state-of-the-art interactive museum illustrate the global impact that Irish emigrants have had on areas such as sport, music, dance, creativity, charity, politics, science and technology.
Visitors are able to get a hands-on experience about Irish culture and history – swiping through video galleries, dancing through motion sensor quizzes, listening to remastered audio from 100 years ago and watching videos that bring Irish history to life.
Other highlights include a gallery of infamous Irish rogues, a whispering library featuring some of Ireland’s most prominent Irish writers, a celebration of Irish music and dance, and an Irish Family History Centre where visitors can consult with a genealogy expert to learn more about their own family history.
If you’re curious about what EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum is like, more information can be found here.
A massive congratulations on an incredibly impressive win.
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